NTA PRESENTS INFO ON FOREIGN STANDARDS THAT HINDER U.S. EXPORTS
Dept. of Commerce seeks more textile industry comments

October 7, 2003 RICHARD MALACHOWSKI of Cranston Print Works Company spoke on behalf of NTA at the Department of Commerce's standards roundtable for the textile and apparel industries held in Washington, DC.

The standards roundtable, moderated by Jim Leonard, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Apparel and Consumer Goods Industries (OTEXA), is one of a series held by the Department of Commerce with various industries. The purpose of these meetings is to provide the Commerce Department with another opportunity to gain industry insight into how foreign standards and related technical regulations affect their competitiveness overseas.

In addition to NTA, representatives of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, the American Yarn Spinners Association, INDA, Association of the Non-Woven Fabrics Industry, the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the Cordage Institute and the American Apparel and Footwear Association participated in the standards roundtable.

The Commerce Department is also seeking written comments on barriers to export markets caused by foreign governments' policies on standards and technical regulatory requirements. For more information or for a copy of NTA's comments at the Roundtable , please contact David Trumbull at 617-542-8220 or dtrumbull@nationaltextile.org.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CALLS FOR MORE COMMENTS [Federal Register: September 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 185)]

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce requests industry comments on pressing standards issues and priority foreign markets. As part of the Department's Secretarial Initiative to Enhance Commerce Department Standards Activities, the Department is currently conducting a series of industry roundtables, seeking comment on barriers in export markets caused by foreign governments' policies on standards and technical regulatory requirements. The Department is supplementing these roundtables with a general solicitation of comments from industry representatives via this notice.

DATES: Written comments on standards issues and foreign markets must be submitted to NIST no later than November 1, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The public is strongly encouraged to submit comments electronically rather than by facsimile or by mail.

All comments on standards issues and foreign markets should be addressed to: Dr. Belinda Collins, Deputy Director, Technology Services, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 2000, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, fax (301) 975-2183. E-mail: belinda.collins@nist.gov.

The full text of the Initiative is available at: http://www.commerce.gov/opa/press/2003_Releases/March/19_Standards.htm.

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